SURVIVAL OF THE SMARTEST by PunchHimInThe at Jun 7, 2014 8:09am

You ,my friend, must want to know how to survive in the apocalyptic wasteland of DayZ!
Well, that can be accomplished in a few simple steps that I am about to share with you today!
DayZ is a very popular game in both it's modded ARMA II state, and its newly released Standalone Version! This game takes place in a province of Russia called Chernarus, which is indeed a fictional area! Bohemia has put together a very large amount of land for your player to explore. No matter if you own DayZ and are looking for a guide to the life of the survivor, or are just browsing around, looking for something to pass the time with, this guide can indeed do both!
Let's get started, shall we?

At spawning: You will need to find yourself some supplies to get you started. You can search near your spawn area for towns and buildings that may happen to be close by. You will need food and water more than ANYTHING else right now.

A weapon: A weapon is something we all will need at one point, but by weapon, I do not mean a firearm. I mean a crowbar, fire extinguisher, wrench, cutting axe, kitchen knife, fire axe, etc. in which you can use to your DEFENSE in a moment's notice. Also, some of these tools can be used as can openers to pry open those pesky cans of spaghetti you've been dying to eat!

Gear: Early on, you will need some better gear that doesn't make your player stand out too much, but can store more items that will be needed greatly on long treks to other towns.
For now, before you find any military camps,(which I advise that you don't go looking for just yet) you will have a limited number of items that your player can use to his/her advantage.
You will need to find a better shirt that has storage slots, like a long-sleeved pocketed shirt.
This very same rule applies with pants. I would recommend hunting pants (never in white)
You might be lucky enough to come along and stumble upon a backpack. Even though you will have plenty of space, I do not recommend using the Mountain Backpacks. They are in highlighter colors and are very big on your player, making you an easy spot for some of the many bandits in DayZ's open world experience. I recommend the Hunting Backpack if you want space, but also want to be concealed from enemy eyes.

Weapons: Since a few updates ago, there have been a few new weapons added. I will attempt to show you how to use each one effectively.

SNIPERS: Rifles like the Mosin Nagant are a hard find but are worth it once you learn how they work. In DayZ, bullet drop effects the path of your projectile, so I recommend finding your bearings of distance before placing a shot. Finding a scope for these guns is not as hard as finding the guns themselves.

SHOTGUNS: With the new added Double Barrel Shotgun, you would only have two shots before reloading, but those two shots pack a hell-of-a punch when you need them to. Ammo can be found in houses, military bases, and other buildings.

ASSAULT RIFLES: BAM! BAM-BAM! A frightening sound to the unsuspecting target. These beauties can be heavily modified and ammo tends to show up most around airfields and bases.

PISTOLS: They may save your life, but don't make this your go-to gun. They provide protection, but won't help much in a medium range firefight.

MELEE: Chop, Slash, Bonk. Melee weapons are your basic survival tools to use against players and zombies alike. If you come across a RED FIRE-AXE, then keep it for later. You'll thank me.

Flashlights: These little devils can be your guide in the dark, or your own personal beacon. Use them carefully if you don't want to have an insane murderer chasing you with an axe, because as of now, they shine through walls to other players.

That's it for my 3.0 update. Comment anything that I should add/change!

THIS IS A VERY OLD GUIDE, I RECOMMEND USING ANOTHER AT THIS POINT IN TIME BUT THANK YOU FOR THE APPRECIATION

For firearms, you should usually choose Mosins over M4s simply because the ammo for it is more abundant and the fact it has the ranged one hit kill potential. Also for melee, you will need a fire axe. It one shots zombies. Other than that, great guide.

Edited by oSSSeth on 2013/12/29

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By PunchHimInThe on 2013/12/29 at 3:02pm

Thanks for your input on my guide, Seth! I will put in more sections on weapons available and their varying ways of use!

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By biggx01 on 2013/12/31 at 4:20am

i do like playing the game and the tips you gave, only problem is with experienced players that run around in groups in the south and harass new players like myself. They have night vision or something and see everything lol but i disagree about not needing a weapon right away. I was chased by zombies from spawn a couple times and they are relentless. Never stop chasing me enough to find something to kill them. They walk through closed doors and attack through floors lol... so now, not only do i need something to kill them but to bandage, eat, and drink and Im usually dead by the time I find something. If that doesnt kill me then a group of bandits that claim to be friendly takes my stuff and leaves me with nothing to protect myself from zombies all over again and eventually die again. VERY TOUGH for noobs with no in-game friends. Tried talking to the few that didnt hold me at gunpoint and they dont even stop lol ... sigh'

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By biggx01 on 2013/12/31 at 4:27am

it would be awesome if this game had some type of policing in it. Maybe experienced players can join the military to help protect survivors from zombies and bandits and vise versa, The bandits join something to do whatever the group does with perks on both sides for doing it. I really do think though there needs to be some type of help or protection for new players like myself. Its not an easy game to start alone.

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By sxweet on 2014/01/02 at 3:49pm

For beginners it can be very hard to navigate and I haven't found a tutorial about it yet maybe someone could do that.
Anyway, if you have problems with other players that are fully geared and camp near military facilities, you could always try an almost empty server, also avoid playing on 24/7 daylight ones.
If I die and re-spawn I usually start with opening my inventory and dragging the battery into the flash-light (one slot more), next I take of my shirt and tear it into rags. If a zombie hits you, and your bleeding you can quickly bandage yourself, Instead of wasting time on losing blood.

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By Surtur on 2014/01/03 at 7:05am

I could maybe do a tutorial about navigating.

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By Wulffman on 2014/01/04 at 9:26am

I'm very new to this game, and this helped me very much. Thank you!

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By Plasma on 2014/01/11 at 8:47am

Good guide :)

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By auniqeid on 2014/01/12 at 6:39am

I agree with everything in the above apart from the no using flashlights. I mean come on. Turning up brightness and gamma is basically cheating. Play the game as it is meant to be. In real life, at night time i would love to turn up the gamma in my eyes, everyone would.

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By philipfogarty123 on 2014/02/01 at 10:31am

i was in the office at electro and suddenly i just died, no gunshot no melee blow no zombie. on my next life i was plagued by it again, i was in the fire station at elecrto in the tower part and it randomly said "You are dead" HELP?

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By leewalker101172 on 2014/02/08 at 5:24am

The most useful thing I have found so far is shift clicking the map sets waypoints. Until I learnt that I wandered around till I died of boredom.

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By jad1920 on 2014/02/13 at 10:24am

Also in the standalone you have to walk inside buildings and stairs in case you glicth and fall and die happend to me especially in Rifty and Devils castle

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By Elle on 2014/02/15 at 2:03am

to the poster concerning dying suddenly. the mosin will do this at over 600 meters and you will not hear anything. you were most likely sniped considering the locations in which you died. there are tons of video showing snipers taking out new spawns in and around electro and cherno.

to the guide creator, you should also recommend that new players head inland first and fast then take care of other needs.

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By CHEZnut on 2014/03/03 at 8:30am

to get the so called night vision, you need to put gamma rating to the top and brightness, it enables ypu to se in the dark

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By Potooczech on 2014/03/04 at 4:13am

I do not think it is hard to survive. Nowadays my character is about 12 days alive. You just have to be carefull and don't trust anyone. This game is not some stupit Call of Duty or Battlefield, nobody is going to protect you or show you what to do. Use your brain. it is survival game so it will teach you a lesson each time you don't act carefully.
First of all throw away battery and flash-light. They only consume space in your pockets. Find water and food but don't seach for them at spawn point town. These towns are usually low on supplies because plenty od players were there before you but very often there is someone waiting for you who will kill you just to entertain himself. So find some villige on the map and go there. The inland villages are usually untouched by other players and can provide food, water, backpack, clothes or even some medical stuff or melee weapons. Very importand is can opener or at least bladed weapon or screwdriver that can be used to open cans. Food in cans is importand because it provides energy and water. Be carefull eating rice as it consumes a lot of water that you have to replenish.

If you encounter a zombie or if zombie finds you, you can try to run away but it is difficult in the town. Especialy in the towns, you have to be very carefull, because zombies can walk through the walls and fences and still can see you while you can't see them. You can try it and run away when you are near the wood. There you can get out of its sight and the zombie will stop chasing you. But remember that running costs you some energy and water so it's better to try to kill it. Try to hit the zombie into its head until it falls down. It will stand up several times so continue hitting it and try to get around so you can hit it from behind. It's the most effective. As a weapon you should prefer fire-axe, but remember, until you find some, anything is better than your hands.
If you find food, don't store it but eat it until you are energized, hydrated and finally healthy. Using map you can find village with water pump and go there, also there are many small ponds around the map. So drink until you are hydrated.

Get some clothes. To be protected from zombies and later from weather get your body covered. Get pants with more pockets, get glowes, motobike helmets are almost everywhere and provide very good protection from zombies hitting your head. Better is only ballistic helmet. And also get something with long sleeves. You will also need backpack because you have to store things. Try to get all in natural green or grey colours so you will not present yourself as a easy target for enemies. Red backpack in the wood or in the middle of the field makes you easy spotted target and you don't want to be target. You want to be smart survivor.

When you have some basic equipment you should travel to military bases and airfileds to find better military stuff and some firepower. To do that choose low populated server. These places are very popular, so choose server with really low number of players. Because you can encounter someone there even if there is only four or five of you on that server. When you travel be cautious. Don't run directly using the roads. Try to cover in the woods. Try to orient using landmarks not using roads because its faster. If you have to run across the field try to look around and try to find some places to hide. Don't go straight. You schould always have in your mind that sniper with mosin and the best scope can see you at great distance but it is really hard to hit fast moving object changing its heading at long distances. So always look very carefully before you step out of your shelter and never stop and stare when you are in open space like large fields. Try to avoid them at best.
Once near the airfiled or military base watch your steps and try to listen if there is anyone else. Even if you can't see anyone you schould always listen because movement always produces some noise.
Check all military buildings. You should know what you want to be, sniper or fighter. But if you have no weapon at all, take anything you find. You can always throw it away if you find something better. As a sniper you have to find a mosin or at least sks for the beginning, proper ammo and scope. Mosin without scope is just a slow rifle with no use. Mosin is very good at long and very long distances when enemy even can't see you without scope and can be used even at medium distances but it has no use inside the buildings and in fight at close range when enemy is moving. So try to find at least magnum od FNX to be able to fight at short distances. Also ammo for mosin is sometimes harder to find and even the best scope is not very common stuff. Mosin is also very very loud weapon.
Other way is to find M4 that is perfect at short distances, inside buildings or when fighting multiple enemies and can be used even at medium if you have scope. When you are inside the building or in the middle of some bigger town M4 is the best weapon. You don't need any complementary weapon like magnum od FNX. There are plenty od mags and ammo all around the airfields or military bases. There are also many spare parts there. Try to find coupled Stanag mags, at least two of them. Two coupled stanag mags provide firepower of 120 bullets. It is enough to show your opponents that you are not some easy target. I have 4 with me right now. But never try to use M4 at long distances, it is useless. Even with scope which has now only 1.65x magnification but should have 4x.
Try to find 300 round box. It needs only 4 places in your bag but provide 10 places for ammo. But it can store only ammo.

At bases and airfields lies plenty of military clothes. So change all your gear to military.
In game you can find a lot of medical stuff. Try to find medical kid. It operates the same way as 300 round box but it can store only medical stuff. Store only bandages in case you get shot, morphine to fix your legs, charcoal tabs if you get poisoned from food. Other stuff is useless or you will never get a chance to use them so don't waiste your storage.
So always keep your character energized, hydrated a then you will became healthy. With proper cloths you can't get wounded or stunned by zombies. Use military stuff so you get masked in nature enviroment. Don't show yourself, always try to see enemy first and be the last spotted. And if you encounted anyone. Don't trust him. When you are alone you have no guarantee he will not follow you and attack you as a surprise when you will not be prepared for it. So try to see him first and try to avoid contact. If you want to be sure, you can always kill him but remember that he could have some hidden company. Killing him will show them your position and you can be sure they will try to kill you.
But never give up. If you have weapons try it. It si better to die in fight than die with handcuffs on your hands and sack on your head serving as a toy to make some fun. Try to use the moment of surprise, hit attacker into his head so he falls down. Use your axe in close body to body contact because it needs only one hit. If you don't want to fight, you can try to run away and hide and log out but it depends on situation and place. If you don't know what to do you can always log out from the game. It takes only few seconds. It is up to you.
My best advice is to behave very carefully, think about every move. Use the map from this site. The game will teach you the rest.

Edited by Potooczech on 2014/03/04

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By mainex3 on 2014/03/30 at 11:16am

You weren't kidding about Mosin's being harder to find. I love my m91/30, but I've yet to find one in the game. I've found PE scopes, Bayonets, ammo (once, go figure). I've had much better luck with M4's simply because they're easy to find.
Are the game Mosin's more reliable than an M4, as in they don't degrade as fast?
Where can you find these fabled Mosin's, anyways?

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By cattractor on 2014/04/22 at 10:45am

You should add a part about how you can tear up the first shirt you get and make it into bandages. I've been killed because of my shirt before. (Guy needed bandages)

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By IsseIsMyName on 2014/04/25 at 12:16am

Potooczech you should do a guid out of that comment

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By About47Pandas on 2014/06/24 at 8:17am

"Russia called Chernarus, which is indeed a fictional area!"

Actually it is a real place. If you look it up, its not exactly how it looks. Its not next to an ocean. But where the ocean is, there is actually a river.

Electro almost is a spit image. Although sniper hill is just built up of just a bunch of trees.